Motion transmitting arrangement combined with toy construction kit



Nov. 4, 1969 A. FISCHER 3,475,849

MOTION TRANSMITTING ARRANGEMENT COMBINED WITH TOY CONSTRUCTION KIT FiledFeb. 1, 1967 INVENTOR.

ARTUR nscusn MaZa4/ United States Patent 3,475,349 MOTION TRANSMITTINGARRANGEMENT COM- BINED WITH TOY CONSTRUCTION KIT Artur Fischer, 133Grunmettstetterstn, 7241 Tumlingen, Germany Filed Feb. 1, 1967, Ser. No.613,299 Claims priority, applilca ation Germany, Feb. 7, 1966,

Int. Cl. A63h 33/00, 33/04 US. C]. 4616 8 Claims ABSTRACT OF THEDISCLOSURE CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS A toy constructionkit of the type with which the arrangement of the present invention canbe used to particular advantage, is disclosed in my co-pendingapplication Ser. No. 580,943, filed on Sept. 21, 1966 under the titleToy Building Kit.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a toybuilding kit in general, and more particularly to a motion-transmittingarrangement which is particularly suitable for use with toy buildingkits of the type set forth above with reference to my co-pendingapplication.

As pointed out, toy building kits are known from my co-pendingapplications, in which the various structural elements such as buildingblocks are provided with coupling means so that they can be releasablyconnected to one another. Specifically, the coupling means disclosed inthe co-pending application includes undercut grooves provided insurfaces of at least some of the structural elements, and projectingmale coupling portions provided on at least some others of thestructural elements and having a cross-section complementary to that ofthe undercut grooves. Thus, these male coupling portions can be insertedinto and withdrawn from the undercut grooves only at the ends thereof,and not intermediate the ends transversely of the elongation of thegrooves.

Building kits of this type have been highly successful, having found awide market distribution, because of their versatility as well asbecause of the challenge they present to a child in the construction ofdurable and relatively true-to-life replicas of buildings and the like.However, they have thus far lacked a versatile motion-transmittingarrangement for mechanizing certain of the structures erectable with thestructural elements, for instance vehicles, cranes and so on.

A preferred motion-transmitting arrangement for these purposes would bea drive means capable of producing and transmitting a reciprocatorymotion, namely a cylinder and piston arrangement. Unfortunately, therehas been no way heretofore in which such an arrangement could beproperly coupled with the other elements of the construction kit withoutviolating the concept that all elements of the kit be connectable to oneanother in a simple manner without requiring additional connecting3,475,849 Patented Nov. 4, 1969 ice means beyond those integrallyprovided on the respective elements, thus minimizing the problems whichin ordinary toy construction kits result from the such additionalconnecting means.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention overcomes thedisadvantages outlined above and constitutes a further improvement ofthe construction kits disclosed in my co-pending application.

More particularly, the present invention provides a motion-transmittingarrangement for use with construction kits of the type which I havedisclosed in the copending application.

The novel motion-transmitting arrangement can be connected to thestructural elements of kits of the above type in precisely the samemanner in which these structural elements are connected to one another.

The motion-transmitting arrangement in accordance with the presentinvention is simple to manufacture and therefore inexpensive. Itsconnection with other structural elements requires no manipulative skillin excess of that needed for connecting the elements themselves to oneanother. Furthermore, the element embodying the novel arrangement canitself serve as a structural element in the erection of structures ofvarious types.

In accordance with one feature of my invention I provide a toyconstruction kit of the type which comprises a plurality of connectablestructural elements provided with coupling means, such kit includingmotion-transmitting means in addition to the structural elements. Inaccordance with the invention this motion-transmitting means includes afirst member, and a second member which is carried by the first memberand guided thereby for reciprocatory movement relative thereto. Thefirst member has an outer peripheral surface which is provided withcoupling means complementary to that on the structural elements of thekit, so that it can cooperatively engage the coupling means of theseelements, whereby the first member can be detachably secured to suchstructural elements.

The novel features which are considered as characteristic for theinvention are set forth in particular in the appended claims. Theinvention itself however, both as to its construction and its method ofoperation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, willbe best understood from the following description of specificembodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a partially sectionedside-elevational view of an arrangement embodying the invention; and

FIG. 2 is a top-plan view of a somewhat modified arrangement embodyingthe invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Discussing now the drawing indetail, and firstly FIG. 1 thereof, it will be seen that a cylinder of acylinder-andpi-ston arrangement is generally indicated with referencenumeral 1. The cross-sectional configuration of cylinder 1 isillustrated as being quadratic, in keeping with the similarconfiguration of the structural elements to which cylinder 1 is to beconnected, as will hereafter be discussed. Of course, instead of beingquadratic the cross-section could be rectangular, triangular or,generally speaking, polygonal.

It will be seen that the cylinder 1 consists of two portions,respectively indicated with reference numerals 1a and 1b. The portion 1ais provided with an elongated chamber 10 of circular cross-section,within which there is arranged a piston 12 for reciprocatory movement inthe direction of elongation of the chamber 10. The latter has an openend remote from the portion 112, and a suitable closure or cap member 8serves to close this open end. The member 8 is provided with externalscrew-threads which mesh with complementary threads on the cylinderportion 1a, as shown.

Furthermore, closure member 8 has an opening through which piston rod 6extends, which is thus guided by the member 8 for linear reciprocation.The drawing shows that piston rod 6 is secured to piston 12 for movementtherewith.

At opposite end pistons of the chamber 1c conduits 7 communicate withthe same. Since such communicaion takes place at opposite sides of therespective end portions of the piston 12, it will be evident thatconduits 7 serve to introduce and remove a pressure medium from chamber1c, respectively. The double-headed arrows associated with each of theconduits 7 indicate that such pressure medium can be introduced intochamber 10 through either of the conduits 7 and that it can of coursealso be removed through either conduit.

The portion 1b of the cylinder 1 is solid, that is, it is not providedwith a chamber as in the case of portion 1a. In the region of thisportion 1b the external peripheral surface of cylinder 1 is providedwith at least one, and preferably several, undercut groove 2 of the typedisclosed in my aforementioned co-pending application. That end face ofcylinder 1 which is provided on the portion 1b thereof carries anaxially extending male coupling portion 3 of undercut configuration,clearly vsible in the drawing and corresponding to the male couplingportions disclosed in my co-pending application.

A structural element 4, of the type discussed earlier and disclosed inmy co-pending application, has an undercut groove 4a whose configurationcorresponds to that of the groove or grooves 2. As shown in FIG. 1, themale coupling portion 3 of cylinder 1 is received in the groove 4a, thussecuring the cylinder 1 to the structural element 4.

A second structural elements 14 is secured to the cylinder 1 also, andin this instance a male coupling portion corresponding to the portion 3is provided on the element 14 and is couplingly received in one of thegrooves 2 on the cylinder 1.

It is evident that the connection of the cylinder 1 with variousstructural elements, such as the elements 4 and 14, is not only simplebut also quick, reliable and capable of great versatility. Since thecross-sectional dimensions of cylinder 1 are preferably the same asthose of the structural elements 4 and 14, the ease and versatility ofcon nection are still further enhanced.

The free end of piston rod 6, that is the end which is not secured topiston 12, is received in a groove 10 of an articulated structuralelement 9. The groove 10 is similar to grooves 2 and the free end ofpiston rod 6 is simply inserted through one open end of the groove 10,to be frictionally retainedtherein. The articulated structual element 9is fully disclosed in my co-pending application Ser. No. 580,943 andconsists of two sections 9b and 90 which are turnable relative to oneanother about an axis 911. Each of the sections 911 and 9c is providedwith one or more grooves 10 and, on its free endface, with a projectingmale coupling portion 11 which is so similar. to portion 3 of cylinder 1as not to require special description.

The embodiment of FIG. 2 is largely similar to that of FIG.. 1. Itdiffers in this in that the structual element 4 of FIG. 1 is replaced bya similar structural element 24 through one of whose undercut grooves(not shown but similar to groove 4a) or through a special bore of whicha cylindrical member extends and is freely turnable relative to theelement 24. The end portions of the member 5 which extend laterallybeyond the element 24 project into undercut grooves (not shown butsimilar to groove 40) of the structural elements 34 wherein they are.frictionally retained. An exemplary use of such an arrangement would forinstance be in an outrigger-type crane with the elements 34, which aretiltable about the axis defined by member 5, secured to the outriggerand the section 9c secured to the housing of the crane. A change in theposition of the piston 12 within the cham ber 10 would then change theelevation of the outrigger of the crane. This, of course, is only anexample and many other possibilities will readily come to mind.

The novel features which are considered as characteristic for theinvention are set forth in particular in the appended claims. Theinvention itself, however, both as to its construction and its method ofoperation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, willbe best understood from the following description of specificembodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawing.

It will be understood that each of the elements described above, or twoor more together, may also find a useful application in other types oftoy building kits differing from the types described above.

While the invention has been illustrated and described as embodied in atoy building kit, it is not intended to be limited to the details shown,since various modifications and structural changes may be made withoutdeparting in any way from the spirit of the present invention.

Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist ofthe present invention that others can be applying current knowledge,readily adapt it for various applications without omitting featuresthat, from the standpoint of prior art, fairly constitute essentialcharaceristics of the generic or specific aspects of this invention.

What is claimed as new and desired to be protected by Letters Patent isset forth in the appended claims:

1. A toy construction kit comprising, in combination, a plurality ofstructural elements at least some of which are provided with couplingportions in form of undercut coupling recesses and at least some othersof which are provided with coupling portions in form of undercutcoupling projections complementary to said coupling recesses;motion-transmitting means, including a first member having an outerperipheral surface including a plurality of faces and also having aninternal chamber provided with an open end, and a second member partlyreceived in said internal chamber for reciprocatory movement therein andincluding a portion extending outwardly through said open end; closuremeans sealing said open end around said outwardly extending portion;complementary coupling portions in form of a complementary undercutcoupling recess provided in at least one of said faces and acomplementary undercut coupling projection provided on at least oneother of said faces and respectively adapted for releasably couplingsaid first member to one of said structural elements which is providedwith a mating coupling portion; and mating engagement means provided onsaid portion of said second member constructed and arranged for beingmatingly receivable and frictionally retainable in respective ones ofsaid coupling recesses of said structural elements whereby saidmotiontransmitting means serve to transmit motion and cause relativemovement between structural elements respectively coupled with saidfirst member and said portion of said second member.

2. A toy construction kit as defined in claim 1, wherein said facesinclude a plurality of side faces and an end face of said first member,said one face constituting one of said side faces and said other faceconstituting said end face.

3. A toy construction kit as defined in claim 2, said housingcomplementary coupling portions further comprising at least oneadditional undercut coupling recess provided in another of said sidefaces.

4. A toy construction kit as defined in claim 1; said first memberhaving a cross-sectional configuration similar to the cross-sectionalconfiguration of at least some of said structural elements of said kit.

5. A toy construction kit as defined in claim 1; said first memberhaving cross-sectional dimensions equal to the correspondingcross-sectional dimensions of at least some of said structural elementsof said kit.

6. A toy construction kit as defined in claim 1, wherein said firstmember is a housing constituting a cylinder, and wherein said secondmember comprises a piston received in said chamber and said outwardlyextending portion constitutes a piston rod carried by said piston.

7 A toy construction kit as defined in claim 6, wherein said housing iselongated and comprises a first and a longitudinally adjacent secondhousing portion, one of said housing portions defining said internalchamber and said outer peripheral surface being provided with saidcomplementary coupling portions at least in the region of one of saidhousing portions.

8. A toy construction kit as defined in claim 6 said complementarycoupling projection having a neck carried by said other facet and a headcarried by said neck and having a greater width than the latter.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,060,619 5/1913 Nusly 46-392,451,593 10/ 1948 Washington 4640 X 3,076,286 2/ 1963 Czecholinski 4626X 3,193,149 7/1965 Beaubien 4639 X FOREIGN PATENTS 616,778 1/1949 GreatBritain.

77,788 6/ 1951 Norway.

F. BARRY SHAY, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 4623

